unknown
Irish Cycles Tir Na Nog
Frames

Product Description

I saw the Irish Cycles ad at www.irishcycles.com after a friend of mine told me about it. I was looking for a fast frame for criteriums. They were a new company and local to me so I thought I would give them a try.

First off, I have to say I love it. It is more then I ever expected and I was really suprised that the craftsmanship was well above my expectations. It seems that they really did their homework in designing this bike from the construction to the paint job.

The first thing that stands out at you when you look at the bike is the beefy 50mm downtube. It looks a lot like a cannondale there and seems to give the bike a firm spine. I chose the HM modulus and the frame in a 54cm weighed in at 1120 grams which was a little less then what I was told by them. They seemed to have a habit of under representing their bike for fear of making it sound too good. I also weighed the fork which I got with an uncut steer tube and it weighed in at 350 grams. I was blown away.

I decided to build the bike up myself. They offer complete bikes or frames and I went thru the LBS to get the frame and slung on it my SRAM Force with Reynolds DV46s and my FSA complement. The bike weighed in at 15.7 lbs. I was shocked.

Finally, after I built it all up I got to take it for a spin. I was once more pleasantly suprised. It seemed it had more 'get up and go' then I ever expected. When I wrote the company I talked to a guy named Joe who was the guy behind the bike. He explained they took the best characteristics of several European frames popular right now and mixed them together to form the bike. The frame is also apparently produced for them by a well known Asian factory that does several other company's bikes as well.

My overall impression is that this is the best value money can buy as far as a racing bike goes. It's fast, it's relatively low cost and seems to have the same pedigree as Orbeas, Kuota's and Wiliers.

User Reviews

Overall Rating:

Value Rating:

Submitted by
EL
a Road Racer

Date Reviewed: September 23, 2013

Strengths: Customer Service during the buying process; quality of the carbon fiber used; fantastic race bike; grassroots support to local racers; Veteran owned business that really takes the time to make things right.

Weaknesses: None thus far.

Bottom Line:

From start to finish and beyond, the decision to go with this frame/manufacturer was not taken lightly. This frame met all of my requirements: Ride, design, price, quality, customer service/fitting; follow thru. This has been my primary race bike for the past 16 months. Fast and responsive for the SouthEast Crit scene, easy to ride the Bridge to Bridge, Assault on Mt. Mitchell or other 100+ mile event.
Owned and designed by an Army Veteran, Joe has decades of cycling and racing experience. We worked together to get this bicycle just the way I wanted.

Weaknesses: I would love to see a more aggressive seat angle for time trials and triathlons (now I use a fast forward seatpost for tris to get a virtual 79-80 seatangle).

Bottom Line:

I have been riding the Tir Na Nog now for the past six months. I must say, I should have started riding it even earlier. I had the frame partially assembled over the summer and just never got around to putting it together. Once I had the bike completely assembled I took it out for an easy "Shake Out" ride. I just wanted to make sure the fit was dialed in and I had no loose components. I did however, conduct my usual initial assement tests such as: descending down a steep hill without hands on the bars (the bike held a steady and firm line BTW); next I rode one legged to determine excessive frame flex (I am a #200 rider and no flex was found unilaterally). I then tested bilateral flex while climbing a steep upgrade out of the saddle (once again no excessive flex was identified). As a Cat 1 racer for over 30 years, I have raced on many different models of bikes... such as Litespeed, Velo Vie, Fuli SL1, Trek TTX, Pinarello, Tommasso, Serotta, Klein, Cannondale, etc. these bikes have nothing over the Tir Na Nog except price. All the above bikes have cost more than my Tir Na Nog. What a concept race on a bike that is at a reasonable price.

I have raced on the bike and I am very happy with the bike's performance. I have ridden/raced on the bike in a road configuration and I have also riden the bike in a triathlon configuration. I have to say I am completely happy with how the bike performs in training and racing. I ended up finishing 3rd in the North Carolina Triathlon Series and I just want to let everyone know my best performances on the bike and the "bike to run transition" was when I was racing on my Irish Cycle.

If you are looking for a new bike at a very reasonable price... check out the Irish Cycles Line before you buy anything else.

I saw the Irish Cycles ad at www.irishcycles.com after a friend of mine told me about it. I was looking for a fast frame for criteriums. They were a new company and local to me so I thought I would give them a try.

First off, I have to say I love it. It is more then I ever expected and I was really suprised that the craftsmanship was well above my expectations. It seems that they really did their homework in designing this bike from the construction to the paint job.

The first thing that stands out at you when you look at the bike is the beefy 50mm downtube. It looks a lot like a cannondale there and seems to give the bike a firm spine. I chose the HM modulus and the frame in a 54cm weighed in at 1120 grams which was a little less then what I was told by them. They seemed to have a habit of under representing their bike for fear of making it sound too good. I also weighed the fork which I got with an uncut steer tube and it weighed in at 350 grams. I was blown away.

I decided to build the bike up myself. They offer complete bikes or frames and I went thru the LBS to get the frame and slung on it my SRAM Force with Reynolds DV46s and my FSA complement. The bike weighed in at 15.7 lbs. I was shocked.

Finally, after I built it all up I got to take it for a spin. I was once more pleasantly suprised. It seemed it had more 'get up and go' then I ever expected. When I wrote the company I talked to a guy named Joe who was the guy behind the bike. He explained they took the best characteristics of several European frames popular right now and mixed them together to form the bike. The frame is also apparently produced for them by a well known Asian factory that does several other company's bikes as well.

My overall impression is that this is the best value money can buy as far as a racing bike goes. It's fast, it's relatively low cost and seems to have the same pedigree as Orbeas, Kuota's and Wiliers.